Optimal battery charge/discharge strategies for prosumers and suppliers

We discuss the application of classical variational methods to optimal charging/discharging strategies for a prosumer or storage supplier, where the price of electrical power is known in advance. We outline how a classical calculus of variations approach can be applied to two related problems: (i) how can a prosumer minimise the cost of charging/discharging a battery, when the price of electrical power is known throughout the charging/discharging period? and (ii) how can an electricity supplier incentivise desired prosumer/storage supplier behaviour by adjusting the price

The influence of distraction on speech processing: How selective is selective attention?

-* indicates shared first authorship - The present study investigated the effects of selective attention on the processing of morphosyntactic errors in unattended parts of speech. Two groups of German native (L1) speakers participated in the present study. Participants listened to sentences in which irregular verbs were manipulated in three different conditions (correct, incorrect but attested ablaut pattern, incorrect and crosslinguistically unattested ablaut pattern). In order to track fast dynamic neural reactions to the stimuli, electroencephalography was used. After each sentence, participants in Experiment 1 performed a semantic judgement task, which deliberately distracted the participants from the syntactic manipulations and directed their attention to the semantic content of the sentence. In Experiment 2, participants carried out a syntactic judgement task, which put their attention on the critical stimuli. The use of two different attentional tasks allowed for investigating the impact of selective attention on speech processing and whether morphosyntactic processing steps are performed automatically. In Experiment 2, the incorrect attested condition elicited a larger N400 component compared to the correct condition, whereas in Experiment 1 no differences between conditions were found. These results suggest that the processing of morphosyntactic violations in irregular verbs is not entirely automatic but seems to be strongly affected by selective attention

Boundary Capabilities in MNCs: Knowledge Transformation for Creative Solution Development

This is the author accepted manuscript. The final version is available from Wiley via the DOI in this record.The management of knowledge across country units is critical to multinational corporations (MNCs). Building on the argument that boundary spanning leads to the development of creative problem solving outcomes, this study advances the concept of MNC knowledge transformation and examines its relationship with solution creativity. Using questionnaire data on 67 problem solving projects, we find that opportunity formation is an underlying mechanism linking MNC knowledge transformation to the development of creative solutions. These insights contribute to our understanding of boundary spanning in global organizations by substantiating MNC knowledge transformation and elaborating the relationship between boundary spanning and creative solution development. If successful at knowledge transformation, collaborators from across the MNC can construct previously unimagined opportunities for the generation of creative outcomes.This study was funded by the Irish Research Council with co-funding from the European Commission (Marie-Curie Fellowship). We are very grateful for the insightful comments of Phillip C. Nell, the three reviewers, editors and participants at the paper development workshop at Ivey Business School

Who do you tap for help when trying to solve an unusual business problem?

Smart choices about whom to solicit ideas and expertise from saves time and yields original solutions, write Renate Kratochvil, Esther Tippmann and Andrew Parke

Detecting the Upturn of the Solar 8^8B Neutrino Spectrum with LENA

LENA (Low Energy Neutrino Astronomy) has been proposed as a next generation 50 kt liquid scintillator detector. The large target mass allows a high precision measurement of the solar $^8$B neutrino spectrum, with an unprecedented energy threshold of 2 MeV. Hence, it can probe the MSW-LMA prediction for the electron neutrino survival probability in the transition region between vacuum and matter-dominated neutrino oscillations. Based on Monte Carlo simulations of the solar neutrino and the corresponding background spectra, it was found that the predicted upturn of the solar $^8$B neutrino spectrum can be detected with 5 sigma significance after 5 y

Die Bedeutung von Religion in der modernen Gesellschaft : Zur Faktizität von Muslimen in bürgerlichen Gesellschaften

Der Text "Die Bedeutung von Religion in der modernen Gesellschaft - Zur Faktizität von Muslimen in bürgerlichen Gesellschaften" nähert sich dem Sachverhalt, indem sie vor dem Hintergrund der konstituierten Aspekte bürgerlicher Gesellschaften Religionen - insbesondere den Islam und seine Geltungsansprüche für das gesellschaftliche, politische, das öffentliche und das private Leben der Menschen - als identitäts- bzw. konfliktstiftendes Phänomen in der modernen Gesellschaft westlicher Prägung beschreibt. Die differenzierte Darstellung "des" Islam und der vielfach konkret hergestellte Alltagsbezug ermöglichen eine breit angelegte Perspektive auf einerseits alltäglich gelingende, andererseits tatsächlich und potentiell konflikthaft verlaufende Prozesse in der multikulturellen Gesellschaft der Bundesrepublik Deutschland

Die Bedeutung von Religion in der modernen Gesellschaft : Zur Faktizität von Muslimen in bürgerlichen Gesellschaften

Der Text "Die Bedeutung von Religion in der modernen Gesellschaft - Zur Faktizität von Muslimen in bürgerlichen Gesellschaften" nähert sich dem Sachverhalt, indem sie vor dem Hintergrund der konstituierten Aspekte bürgerlicher Gesellschaften Religionen - insbesondere den Islam und seine Geltungsansprüche für das gesellschaftliche, politische, das öffentliche und das private Leben der Menschen - als identitäts- bzw. konfliktstiftendes Phänomen in der modernen Gesellschaft westlicher Prägung beschreibt. Die differenzierte Darstellung "des" Islam und der vielfach konkret hergestellte Alltagsbezug ermöglichen eine breit angelegte Perspektive auf einerseits alltäglich gelingende, andererseits tatsächlich und potentiell konflikthaft verlaufende Prozesse in der multikulturellen Gesellschaft der Bundesrepublik Deutschland

Emergence of superconductivity in the canonical heavy-electron metal YbRh2Si2

We report magnetic and calorimetric measurements down to T = 1 mK on the canonical heavy-electron metal YbRh2Si2. The data reveal the development of nuclear antiferromagnetic order slightly above 2 mK. The latter weakens the primary electronic antiferromagnetism, thereby paving the way for heavy-electron superconductivity below Tc = 2 mK. Our results demonstrate that superconductivity driven by quantum criticality is a general phenomenon.Comment: 39 pages including Supplementary Materials. Version before copy-edited by the journa

More effective solutions? Senior managers and non-routine problem solving

Research Summary Solving non-routine problems—problems for which current organizational, recurrent action patterns do not offer a predetermined, effective solution—can be an important source of value creation. When these problems occur in subsidiaries of multinational corporations, senior headquarters managers can potentially help solve them. However, whether their involvement is beneficial rests upon the assumptions that they know which knowledge is appropriate and that their involvement does not negatively influence the problem solving process. We challenge these assumptions and theorize that the involvement of senior headquarters managers is negatively related to solution effectiveness, unless senior subsidiary managers are also involved, and especially if problems have an external locus (i.e., primarily relate to the firm's products and services). Our robust results are consistent with our theory. Managerial Summary Companies are often faced with new problems, which represent an opportunity for organizational improvements. But how different types of senior managers influence problem solving effectiveness has remained unclear. Studying problems occurring in foreign subsidiaries of multinational corporations, we find that the involvement of senior headquarters managers is negatively related to problem solving effectiveness. Two reasons explain this result: senior headquarters managers often lack necessary understanding of their subsidiaries' contexts; and their involvement diminishes active participation of subsidiary employees. The negative relationship is especially strong when problems relate to products and services (as opposed to internal processes). Furthermore, we find that senior subsidiary managers can mitigate the negative consequences related to senior headquarters managers' involvement